The Fall
by eurieka
Summary: When a set of unfortunate circumstances led them to each other's company, they were forced to deal with emotions they desperately tried to leave behind. Armed with hardened souls, they become the tangled mess they've always been.
1. Prologue

0

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Prologue

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She initially found him by mistake. Pure dumb luck. In her near-death state, she really didn't think she could complain and she didn't think to. An old friend was better than no friend.

She approached him cautiously, his last words repeating themselves in her mind. _Sakura... Thank you._ Shaking those thoughts away, she instead replaced them forcibly. She thought of Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, Ino, Tsunade, and everyone else. She had to get back to them, in one piece preferably.

The last thing she would remember about her first encounter with him in years was tapping on his back with the sentence, "Mind helping an old teammate out?" But those words weren't spoken. She had blacked out too soon.

...

Black. Great.

"Take care of her." A deep voice she recognized as Sasuke's ordered. _Bossy, as expected._ Still, she couldn't complain as she assumed he was pertaining to her. She felt herself being handed to someone who had big, warm hands, compared to Sasuke's chilly hands anyway. She decided to feign unconscious, lest they let her walk by herself.

Unbeknownst to her, she was already putting her trust on him. A stupid mistake, she would later say. Because it led to too much trust.

...

The next time she woke up, she was greeted by the sound of someone scribbling on paper. She was absentmindedly reminded of waking up in Sai's room. He would always draw her while she slept and to Sai's surprise, she would always reward him with a kiss on the cheek if the drawing pleased her. To them, it was nothing but a friendly gesture but Naruto presumed they were dating, what with them sleeping in each other's houses.

"Baka." Sakura giggled and opened her eyes.

She was greeted by the sight of Sasuke raising his brows, seeming to be offended. "Excuse me?" Not answering right away, she observed his physique. The years were certainly good to him, of course. But his hair was a little longer than usual, she noticed. He was sitting on a wooden chair, composing what looked like a letter.

"I was talking about someone else." She explained casually, as if waking up to the sight of Sasuke was something that happened everyday.

"Hn." Came his noncommittal reply. Some things never change, she thought. Before she could speak, he continued. "You should leave soon. You are my enemy, after all."

With a sigh, Sakura replied, "Yeah, an enemy you saved from death! Are you seriously gonna think that I'll believe your little charade that you've broken your precious bonds?"

Sasuke scowled, "You should be grateful. You wouldn't have lasted long had I not helped." And he was right. As she was checking her injuries, she found that not even she could heal them without draining her already drained chakra.

"Thank you, then." She bit out, rolling her eyes at the smirk that made its way to his face. "But I'm not leaving yet." He frowned. "I won't last long if I go. I have to regain my chakra first."

"You will not be staying here." He dictated, walking to the door.

But he was stopped when a bargain came from her. "I... I'll give you information on Danzo." Upon hearing the newly-appointed Hokage's name, he stiffened.

"You would never betray Konoha."

"I care little for him. He's not worthy of being Hokage. I'll help you and in return, you let me stay with you until I've regained my strength." He was the reason she became a missing nin anyway. He prohibited the ninja of the Leaf from fighting with the Allied Forces and most of the ninjas deserted their roots in order to join them. But being missing ninjas forced them to never stay in one place. Danzo's men hunted them like they were animals. As such, they were to receive missions away from camp and when she found Sasuke, she had just finished her latest mission but she didn't escape unscathed.

Sasuke nodded and she heaved a sigh of relief. As he was leaving, a few choice words decided to escape Sakura's mouth without her consent.

"Sasuke... Thank you."

After Sasuke slammed the door, they both had very similar thoughts in their minds.

What the hell did they just get into?

...

AN: Hello. Please be nice. Thank you. ^_^ Constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged. :) Review of you so desire, I'd love some though. XD


	2. Steadfast

1

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Steadfast

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Sasuke was not a fan of mornings. Maybe it was the prospect of facing another day of waiting. Akatsaki, under the leadership of Uchiha Madara, was something he likened to the times when he was still a genin. Utterly boring. The older Uchiha wanted to be cautious. Under orders by the newly-assigned Danzo, Konoha and all its citizens were forced to abandon the Allied Shinobi Forces and decided to battle independently, making itself an enemy of both the Allied Forces and Akatsuki. Unwilling to support the corrupt leader, renegades from Konoha consisting of most shinobi along with a comatose Tsunade rejoined the Allied Forces.

While Sasuke was unsure of what happened to the renegades, he knew that their actions only fueled the war between the forces and Konoha, with Akatsuki taking a backseat. Sasuke was quite aware of Akatsuki's plans to attack when both their enemies were run down but that didn't mean he had to be patient.

But maybe his crankiness could also be attributed to the fact that a certain female banshee was having a significantly huge fit. A loud, violent, and disturbing one at that. Sasuke let out a snarl and slovenly removed his thick blanket. The cold air did nothing to faze him or distract him from being angry.

Stalking to the witch's assigned room, he thought of several hundred reasons why he should not have taken her up on her offer and another hundred ways to kill her for ruining his sleep. He slammed the door open to see a very perturbed Sakura and a once neat room now looking like a hurricane ran over it. With gritted teeth, Sasuke growled, "What the fuck, Sakura?"

Now Sakura, not having a very good morning herself, just crossed her arms childishly and muttered silently. Having not heard anything, the man moved closer to her bed and none too gently flicked her shoulder.

"My chakra's still not back." She repeated. "I tried doing the simplest jutsu and nothing happened. And I bet the only reason your little fan girl hasn't barged into my room is because she can't detect my chakra." She was secretly grateful for that fact, not wanting to deal with a more annoying version of her twelve-year old self.

Sasuke's brows furrowed. This meant she would be staying longer and that meant interacting with her. Her words about his bonds struck a chord. They weren't completely broken and he hated himself for his weakness.

His thoughts were broken when she spoke once more. "I think someone sealed my chakra." Sasuke mentally agreed. It was the only plausible explanation.

"You let them touch you?" He asked incredulously at her, looking at her like she was an idiot.

This offended Sakura more than it should have. She was not stupid or weak anymore. "Of course not, you idiot. Sai did but I trust him with my life! He's the one who threw them off my path." She said, trailing off as she realized. "Sai blocked my chakra so they won't find me."

At the mention of his replacement, he looked at her in a confused manner. Wasn't that Sai guy their friend?

"Sai stayed in Konoho as a double agent. His background in Root made Danzo trust him. He was part of the team sent to capture the renegades. Oh kami, he sealed my chakra." She shook her head. Sai had good intentions but she ended up completely useless. It was an unsettling experience after shedding her useless fan girl image.

She was startled when she felt a gentle hold on her wrist. She looked at Sasuke like he grew an extra head until Sasuke directed his gaze to her wrist making her follow. She was surprised to see familiar seals unravel on the length of her arm. It was a seal shinobi used on captured rogue ninjas during missions.

Sasuke was familiar to it as well. He mentally cursed his luck when he realized. "It'll last for a month." He declared, watching as Sakura's expression changed from shocked to indignant and finally, accepting. They both didn't want to be around each other for a month but she couldn't prance around anywhere without getting caught by her considerable amount of enemies. Sure they couldn't detect her, but she couldn't detect them either. Who knew, she could walk into a random cafe frequented by Root and not realize until her head was already separated from the rest of her.

Sasuke, while he did not mind her presence at all, did mind the consequences of said presence. Karin would of course dedicate her every waking moment to possibly mutilating Sakura and Suigetsu would flirt with her to no end. For some reason, these thoughts didn't sit well with the young Uchiha. The only good side would be that Juugo would most likely earn a friend. Although he didn't show it, Sasuke was closest to Juugo as the latter did not bother him with meaningless chatter.

"Fine. But try not to be too annoying." He said as he was walking away, concealing a smirk when Sakura muttered something about not being annoying and a self-glorifying asshole.

...

...

...

It was a few hours after that Sakura realized that no matter how long she sulked inside her room, Sasuke won't care nor will he bring her food which either meant that she wasn't a prisoner or that he was killing her through starvation. She believed it was the former and that he was giving her free reign to go around the modest house Sasuke occupied as not to be forced to reside at the Akatsuki headquarters.

Smiling, Sakura stretched her unused limbs and quickly left the confines of her blankets. She cautiously opened the door and slowly let herself out. After making sure that no one was guarding her room, she walked towards the only hallway. Fortunately, it led to the kitchen and she was pleased to see a covered plate. Sasuke wasn't so bad after all.

Upon uncovering the plate, she just had to grin to herself. Okaka-filled omusubi and tomatoes, Sasuke's favorite. Of course this would be the only food he had, he's always had little patience for cooking. Her smile grew as she remembered the times they've camped before. Sasuke would catch fish or any other woodland critters, Naruto would gather firewood, Kakashi would start the fire, and she would cook. They used to work like well-oiled machines.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Sasuke came in along with the members of his team. They looked exactly the same as they had when she, alongside the new team Kakashi, fought them. They were all wearing Akatsuki's trademark cloaks and she had to keep herself from rolling her eyes at the tacky and quite frankly, gay design. Clouds? What were they, evil little toddlers? Sakura giggled at the thought of Akatsuki members with coloring books.

Sasuke raised his brow at her giggling, thinking that she must be crazy. This made Sakura bite her lip in an effort to stop. Thankfully, a tall orange-haired guy approached her and introduced himself.

"Hello, miss. My name is Juugo." He said with a sweet smile. Blushing when she smiled back and extended her hand.

"I'm Sakura." She introduced herself in a charming manner, having heard of the man's condition from one of the nins who was sent on a reconnaissance mission by the Intelligence Division. She had felt sympathy upon hearing of it and had mentally cursed Orochimaru for corrupting so many.

Juugo eagerly shook her hand. "I hope you will enjoy your stay with us." Sakura had to fight a laugh because the man sounded very much like one of those concierge working at some of the better hotels she once stayed in.

While Juugo was welcoming, Karin was repulsed at the idea that she would have to live with Sakura. She had questioned why Sasuke didn't just let her die but she was silenced by his piercing gaze. The rest of the members of Take then realized one thing: Sasuke still cared about his former teammates, particularly Sakura. The fact did not surprise Suigetsu and Juugo, both of whom were surprised at Sasuke's failed attempts at killing her. This led them to believe that he had recognized Kakashi and Naruto's chakra and had attacked at a pace slow enough that they had a chance to save her but fast enough as not to be noticeable.

Karin was a different case. She of course despised any and all competition but Sakura was different. Not only was she a former teammate, she had also been one of his precious people. He protected her because she was special, but he protected Karin because of her abilities. So when they were informed of her presence, she had been hurt and livid. Life was just so, so unfair.

Suigetsu, however, was more than happy upon hearing the news. Living with Sasuke, Juugo, and Karin wasn't exactly the definition of fun. Actually, anything that involved someone who had the social skills of a rock, a man more bipolar than a girl on her period, and the most Sasuke-obsessed girl on the planet was pretty much hell. As such, Suigetsu was glad for some company. That didn't mean he wouldn't scare her off by flirting.

"Hey, hot stuff. I'm Suigetsu and do you have a sunburn or are you always this hot?" He said with a wink. Sakura blinked in reply, then burst into laughter at the cheesiest pick up line ever.

Fighting off the urge to smack his head, she instead turned to Sasuke. She was a woman on a mission to satiate her hunger and anything that kept her from doing so would face her wrath. "Can I eat these? Or are they yours?" She said with a raised brow, secretly hoping that Sasuke magically turned into a nice boy who had no desire to kill her.

"Eat." He said in his usual monotone and moved to the hallway leading to his room, catching Sakura's reply before completely disappearing.

"Jeez, you could have left a note." She said with a roll of her emerald eyes. Within the few seconds that followed though, she already started munching on the tasty rice balls. After finishing one of the rice balls, she moved the plate to the center of the table and tilted her head as an invitation for Sasuke's teammates to join her. The two boys each took a seat in front of her while the only female member traipsed loudly to a different hallway from the one she had come from. Her and Sasuke's room were separate from the members of Taka, she noted. Filing away the information so she could ask Sasuke about it sometime.

Ultimately, Sakura could say that their brunch was peaceful, with Juugo making conversation about animals, something she was truly interested in and Suigetsu flirting which would only make her laugh.

This was nice, she thought. If only Karin would disappear for a month and Sasuke would just stop being himself. As their lunch ended, Sakura tried to ignore the fact that she didn't really mind being with Sasuke.

She found that some things just never really change. Sasuke was still the same impatient, cocky little boy she once knew. And she honestly didn't know how she felt about that.

...

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Author's Note: So it's been a considerably long time since this was updated, I just wanna assure you that this won't happen a lot. My keyboard was broken so I couldn't type properly. :( Anyways, expect the next chapter in a week. Oh and the chapters won't always be this short. This was just a filler to show how Sasuke is still somehow like the younger Sasuke. As the story develops, the chapters will be longer. Thank you for reading this! :D Review if you liked it.


	3. Push & Pull

2

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Push & Pull

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The next morning, Sasuke wondered if it was Sakura's personal mission to annoy him every morning because today, he was roused by the annoying sound of a pan banging on a steel surface. If he had honestly known how bothersome letting her stay with them would be, he'd have left her the night she approached him. Then he wouldn't have had to deal with this.

Sighing, he got up from his bed and was surprised when a mouthwatering scent attacked his senses. It vividly reminded him of when he just started his first year at the academy. His mother had been so excited, she had cooked enough for the whole clan. She had then forced him to eat at least a bite of each of the numerous dishes while Itachi was chuckling at the sidelines.

Shaking off those thoughts, he silently sauntered to the kitchen, unknowingly forgetting something.

"Eep." Sakura's surprised squeal and flushed cheeks greeted him as soon as he entered her field of vision. Inwardly confused, he watched as she coughed and removed all signs of discomfort in a blink of an eye.

"Uh, good morning. Your team left a few hours ago so I got bored and uh, I made tamagoyaki, miso soup, and rice. Oh and some more omusubi to replace the ones I ate yesterday." She said awkwardly, wincing at the sound of her obviously fake cheery voice. Oh god, she was going crazy. Haruno Sakura, blushing at the sight of a grown man's chest?! How many naked bodies has she seen in her lifetime without any eliciting any kind of emotion from her? Oh Kami, it just had to be Uchiha Sasuke. As she mentally cursed herself for being so affected, she had no idea that she had taken him by the arm, forced him to sit down, and was now serving him like his overbearing mother once had.

She was shaken out of her reverie when he put his palm on her hand, effectively stopping her from putting more food on his already full plate. Realizing what just happened, she removed her hand from under his and excused herself, stuttering that she had already eaten and asked if she could take a bath. Upon hearing Sasuke's affirmative, she hurriedly ran to the hallway.

It was a little after he took his first bite that he realized his state of dress. Or rather undress. And let out a smirk. "Annoying." It took the rest of the day for Sasuke to convince himself that he didn't care how he affected her and for Sakura to let it go as a natural reaction to seeing any man shirtless.

...

...

...

The next few days, Sakura avoided him like the plague. She would wake up at an ungodly hour, make herself and Sasuke food, bring enough food to her room to last her through the day, and never go out until the next day. On the first day, Sasuke felt smug at how she was so terribly affected by what happened the day prior and proceeded to eat. The second day, he felt the slightest bit of annoyance but didn't bother her to go out regardless of how much it irked him.

The third day, he was exasperated and painstakingly made his way to her room, something that surprised Sakura who had been reading a poetry book when he abruptly entered her room. A part of her was touched that he was concerned enough to seek her out, until he opened his mouth and extinguished any hope she had that he actually cared.

"We had a deal." He pronounced with no emotion, making Sakura rethink the thought that they could actually be friends again. It was too late for that and she regretted even considering it.

Letting out a sigh, she motioned for him to sit down and started. "First off, I promised I'd tell you about Danzo and only him. I won't say anything about Konoha or the army." Upon seeing Sasuke agree to her terms, she continued, "Danzo's the leader of Root so it was expected that he made them the leaders of shinobi. The rest of the shinobi, along with me, were stripped of rank and forced to do missions that genins normally do." Sakura stopped, reminiscing on the days they were still genin, doing missions as pointless as looking for runaway cats and cleaning yards. She had to fight herself from smiling, Sasuke had made it clear that he wasn't keeping her around as an act of friendship and she respected that.

"The children at the academy were taken to Root to be trained. Unlike the former Hokages, he didn't live at the Hokage mansion, instead he lived at the Root chambers which is located underground. According to Kakashi, the entrance to the secret tunnel was somewhere in a temple located at the Uchiha district. It was placed there because no one dared go there." Sakura paused to see his reaction, but he let none show.

"Being his choice of medic, I would be ordered to his office every once in a while at precisely 11 in the morning. He would have me heal his eyes and check the rest of his body. His eyes were taking a toll on him and his chakra, it would deplete his chakra before he could even use it. He uses the same office as the former Hokages and is surrounded by 6 Root members. Unlike before, no one can walk in without invitation, which usually came in the form of a Root member manhandling you. That's all, I guess, since you know of his abilities already."

A silence formed, both of them lost in their thoughts.

Sasuke considered the new information and thought of ways on how he could use them. With the little information she had given, the opportunity to ambush Danzo was provided. He was getting weaker, Sasuke deduced, Danzo's sharingan was still exhausted from their battle.

Sakura's train of thought however, was completely different from his. She thought of Naruto and how much she missed him, she wondered if he was worried, she was 4 days late after all. Ironically, before she was sent on the mission that led her here, she had been waiting for Naruto to return. The idiot was a day late and had returned with the excuse that he just had to try ramen from a stand he saw. She had, of course, punched him to the other side of the room but proceeded to hug him right after. She didn't want to lose another teammate. Not again.

She also thought of Kakashi, that pervert. He was sent on the mission with her but they had split up in order to throw off Danzo's men. She was worried that he'd blame himself for her disappearance. A night of drinks was all it took for Sakura to convince the man to tell her about his past. She wished she hadn't.

Lastly, she thought of the man in front of her. Even when they were genin, for every one step forward in their friendship, there were two steps backwards. Sakura thought it'd be different, that they were more mature than that. But she realized that Sasuke was still the same boy who rejected friendship like it was second nature.

And as he left the room silently, she wondered if any of her efforts were worth it. But even though she knew that she couldn't convince him to come back with her, a temporary friendship or even being civil to each other while being here was better than awkwardness.

...

...

...

His teammates came back at the dead of night.

Upon orders by the Uchiha, Karin grudgingly healed Sakura. While Sakura was marginally disgusted at the mere thought of Karin's method of healing, Sakura bit her. Moving around was hard for her with all her injuries and she had gotten a bit bored.

Despite Sakura's chakra being sealed, she was able to control Karin's chakra. It was nothing but uncomfortable. The chakra felt cold and invasive, it felt like a parasite coursing through her body, like Karin's ire was transferred along with it. But it successfully healed the worst of her injuries.

Stretching like a waking cat, she walked out of her room to look for Juugo and maybe even Suigetsu. Despite his crude advances, she found him to be rather funny. Juugo however, was just simply the sweetest. If you put them both together, you'd get Naruto. The thought made her laugh but maybe it was why she was so drawn to them in the first place.

The rest of the night was spent reminiscing. She told them about everyone and everything she missed. Naruto's sunny personality, Kakashi's pervertedness, and surprisingly enough, the awkwardness between her and Gaara.

Oddly, Suigetsu had offered some pretty good relationship advice despite Sakura insisting that she had no plans of pursuing a relationship with Gaara. Their mutual liking for each other made things hard enough with Naruto, a steady relationship would just break his heart. Besides, she was still unsure of what she wanted herself.

It was a little while after that they announced they had to leave for another mission. Juugo had explained upon leaving that they never stayed for more than one day at the house. Not being as valuable as the other few members of Akatsuki, they were sent on numerous missions while the other members just waited and rested.

With nothing left to do, she went back to her room, not spotting a certain Uchiha hiding in the shadows with clenched fists.

...

...

...

Upon waking, she did the exact same thing she always have. She cooked enough food for both of them, ate, and had taken a bath. But upon contemplating, she found that it was useless to continue ignoring his existence. So as he was eating, she suddenly sat in the chair in front of him.

"Hey." She greeted cheerfully.

After a few seconds, she received no reply. Typical.

"I'm bored."

Upon receiving no response from the ever so responsive Uchiha, she sighed and turned to leave, only to be stopped by the unmistakable voice of the aforementioned boy.

"Spar. Tomorrow, before breakfast."

She had to fight a grin at the Sasuke-like response. It reminded her so much of old times that she had to remind herself of the cold truth that no, this was not like old times. And it was never going to be that way ever.

...

...

...

Their spar was different than what she had expected.

While they limited themselves to only taijutsu and weapons because of Sakura's current state, she could honestly say that it was one of the most intense spars she's ever had. With Naruto and Kakashi, she always felt that they were holding back. But Sasuke didn't care about her feelings, so he went all out on her. Not like what he would treat an enemy, but like he would treat an equal. And it satisfied her more than it should have.

The sparring match started with them a few meters apart, both waiting for the other to attack and sizing each other up. She'd been the one who made the first move. She sprinted to him with a kunai in her hand and while balling the other into a fist behind her. She was confident in her skills, she had trained with the one and only Gai after all.

Poising the kunai, she jumped and as expected, he blocked it with no effort, moving to the opposite direction only to meet her previously hidden fist. To say he was shocked was an understatement. He had not expected for her to have already planned her attack.

"Tactics, darling." She said, smirking in a mocking fashion, before Sasuke took advantage of his position in the ground to sweep his legs under hers, making her fall with a grunt. Quickly standing up, Sasuke took hold of her leg and threw her in the air. As she was falling, Sasuke speedily kicked her in the back while she twisted, successfully countering him with a punch to the stomach, both delivering the blows at nearly the exact same time.

As they fell in opposite directions, Sasuke threw a shuriken in her direction with Sakura narrowly blocking. Swiftly getting on her feet, Sakura hurled several kunai at him, giving her an opening while he was avoiding them. She quickly took her chance, jumped behind him, and delivered a hit on his neck, successfully paralyzing his legs but not before he could punch her on the temple, rendering her unconscious.

...

...

...

Gasping for air, Sakura woke up with a start. She had woken up to a jolt on her arm and it took her a few seconds to realize that Sasuke had zapped her awake with his chakra. Recalling the events that transpired a few minutes before, she turned to Sasuke concernedly.

"You paralyzed me." Sasuke said in a deadpan, obviously disgruntled at the fact that he couldn't move his legs.

Wincing, Sakura smiled apologetically, but playfully countered, "You hit me unconscious. Again." She immediately regretted it the second she said it as it made their situation all the more awkward. While to Sakura it was nothing but a mere joke to ease the tension, albeit poorly constructed, to Sasuke it was an accusation.

Sasuke sneered menacingly. "Am I supposed to feel bad?" But Sakura responded by rolling her eyes at his inability to take a joke and immediately set to work. Despite having no access to her chakra, she knew several treatments for temporary paralysis, one of which did not need any.

Abruptly, she took a firm hold on his back and began massaging him. Naturally, he tensed. Ninja were thought never to trust anyone with their backs except for comrades. As it has been years since they last worked together, it wasn't a surprise to Sakura but that didn't make her any less hurt.

"Relax. This won't work if you're as stiff as a board," she scolded lightly, sighing. "I'm not going to hurt you. In case you haven't noticed, I have no chakra whatsoever."

Slowly but surely, Sasuke relaxed his body. He was still wary of her but wanted this over with nonetheless. Upon feeling her hands continue kneading his back, Sasuke thought of the last time he'd ever had a massage. It felt good, he wasn't going to lie. Years and years of rigorous training had led to his back having a collection of knots and it was only now that it was removed.

They sat there for what seemed like a century until he finally got control of his legs. While Sakura was nothing but professional during the whole thing, she couldn't help but feel guilty for invading his personal space without asking him. She had been used to immediately treating those she trained with in Konoha that she forgot who exactly she was with.

Upon seeing Sasuke stand up, she automatically got on her feet as well. They walked in silence until they reached the house. Before entering her room, she heard two words come out of the silent Uchiha.

Laughing lightly, she thought to herself that maybe that was all there was to their relationship. The most meaningful they'll ever get from each other is "thank you" and the closest they'll ever be was complicated friends.

As she threw herself on the bed, she dwelled on the thought that maybe his simple "thank you"s are worth more than anyone's "I love you". And maybe, no one could ever make her feel more alive than Sasuke.

Despite this, she would never allow herself to fall for him once more. The chances of a broken heart were high and she would not let him stomp on her again.

...

...

...

It was after three more sparring sessions that a significant change in their dynamic happened.

They would spar until they were more than worn out. After, they usually just laid on the grass silently a long distance apart until one of them announced it was time to go home. With each session, they had grown more comfortable around each other than they liked to admit, something that rattled them both. It was beginning to feel too much like old times and Sakura knew that when the time comes to break their bonds, this time it would hurt more than before. So she repelled him by acting as apathetic as he did.

Of course, with Sakura's luck, the opposite of what she wanted happened. Instead of being thrown off like a normal human being would be, Sasuke decided to make things awkward again.

"Sakura."

Looking up at him in confusion, she sat up from her position on the grass. She wondered if she did something wrong or offended him somehow. They never talked so why start now?

With a tint of pink on his cheeks, Sasuke cleared his throat before continuing, "...Good spar." Quickly, Sasuke turned to leave without looking at the surprised girl he left behind. In fact, he had no intention of interacting with her ever again after this. Although he would never admit it, but it took him numerous spars to get his pride out of the way and actually compliment her. He would try but he always ended up keeping his mouth shut.

Sakura was at a loss for words. Never in her life had she thought that the almighty Uchiha could actually say anything nice, let alone compliment someone. It was all so surreal. The last time she felt like this was when he expressed his gratitude the night he left.

After a few minutes of speechlessness, Sakura moaned in despair. The last thing she wanted was for Sasuke to make an effort to be friends with her. There were two more weeks to go and if they got any closer, it would be harder for them to go back to being strangers, let alone enemies!

This was all so confusing to Sakura. He just couldn't stick to one thing. One minute he'd push her away and treat like a mere speck of dust, the next he'd go complimenting her. And to her, the worst of all was that she could feel herself wanting this. Despite knowing that nothing was simple when it involved him, she wanted to be friends with him. With everything he put her through, she was still willing to be tortured.

She still loved him and she hated it.

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**Author's note: Hey, guys. :D Sorry this was late, I had second thoughts about this story. The lack of reviews is kinda discouraging and I thought maybe my story isn't good enough so I thought I'd delete it soon. Who knows? XD I'm not forcing any of you to review though, it's your choice. But please do if you liked it or even if you didn't. There's a lot of room for improvement in my writing so do share your thoughts. I'm just a little bit demoralized by the chilly reception. Thank you to the few of you who did review, favorite, and follow! :) I won't ever forget you.**

**See you guys on my next story! I will most likely pull the plug on this story in a few days. We shall see. :D Thank you!**


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